Naruto Meets Zombies
by JulyvsDaniel
Summary: My take on the Naruto Shippuden version of the zombie apocalypse. It takes place just after they get back from failing to seal the Three-tails. I decided that I didn't like everyone's relationships so I decided to try to fix them. NarutoXHintata, SakuraXSasuke, Kiba jealous of Naruto, SaiXIno, KakashiXHanare, TsunadeXJiraiya, and many more. I may give Naruto Shikotsumyaku.
1. Chapter 1

I do not own Naruto Shippuden or any of the characters. This takes place just after the Three-tails arc.

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Celebration

Naruto walked into the village with the others and instantly branched off toward Ichiraku's. Sakura and Ino both exchanged grins knowing how much trouble he'd be in when Tsunade found out where he was going. The others all went to Tsunade's office and gave her their report.

"Naruto!" Teuchi said. "Welcome back. How'd it go?"

"We almost lost Hinata," Naruto said.

Teuchi froze momentarily hearing worry, fear, and even guilt in his voice.

"Is she okay?" Teuchi asked.

"She's fine," Naruto said. "I'll take one bowl of the usual."

Teuchi nodded and a moment later he brought Naruto a bowl of ramen. Naruto ate it slowly barely noticing that he was eating it at all. When he finished it, he left his money on the bar and left. Ayame leaned on the bar to watch him go then looked at Teuchi questioningly. He simply shrugged.

* * *

"He did what?" Tsunade asked after Sakura had finished explaining why Naruto wasn't with them.

"He went to Ichiraku's ma'am," Sakura said.

"When I get my hands on him..." Tsunade said marching toward the door.

"No don't!" Sakura said grabbing Tsunade's arm.

"Why?" Tsunade asked.

"He didn't seem like himself on the way back," Sakura said. "He seemed...distant."

"Now that you mention it," Kiba said. "He's seemed like that ever since-"

"Kiba," Sakura said sternly. "If you know, don't say. That goes double for you Lee."

Lee nodded and Kiba also nodded. Tsunade sighed and understood what it was.

"He took it a lot harder than he let on," Sakura said.

"You're all dismissed," Tsunade said. "Sakura. Tell me what's wrong with him."

Sakura nodded and once the others were gone she began.

"Naruto feels that he was simply late," Sakura said. "He feels that if he had been faster, he could have saved her and she wouldn't have almost died."

"I see," Tsunade said. "Poor kid. He takes things onto himself even without meaning too. Try to cheer him on but without leading him on this time, okay hooch?"

"I'm not a hooch!" Sakura said offended.

"If you say so," Tsunade said. "Just stop leading Naruto on, okay?"

"I don't-" Sakura began.

"You're dismissed," Tsunade interrupted.

Sakura left before she lost her anger and Tsunade pulled out a bottle of Sake. Shizune walked in and rested her hand in her face for a moment then continued with her business.

* * *

Naruto walked to the nearest weapon shop and went inside. When he was inside, he looked around and didn't see anything he liked so he walked to the back. There were two displays of twin swords. One was a pair of ninjato and the other a pair of chokuto. One chokuto was black and the other was white. The white one had the Kanji for Love in black on the grip and the scabbard. The other chokuto had the Kanji for Death in the same places but in white. Both ninjato were navy blue with sky blue Kanji. One said Yin, the other said Yang. Naruto smiled and had a very strong urge to buy them. He debated it, but in the end, he bought both sets.

He left that store and went to the armor shop. He didn't particularly care for armor but he decided that he was getting tired of the color orange. He was glad that the armor shop doubled as the best clothing store in the village. He tried out several outfits before deciding on a pair of black cargo pants, a black long-sleeved shirt, a pair of black gloves with metal splints on the backs, and a red cloak with black flames on the bottom.

"Not bad," Naruto said.

He decided to put his jacket back on then put the cloak over it. He payed for a few more sets of the outfit then left. He began to wander through the village in the general direction of his apartment. When he got there, he found a note attached to the door.

The note read, "Naruto, meet me at Yakiniku Q. Sakura."

Naruto sighed and dropped his new swords off in his apartment then headed to the restaurant. When he arrived, it was empty. Just as he was about to leave, all of his friends jumped out and shouted "Surprise" before Sai pulled a table with a six foot tall cake out. Naruto smiled then realized there were only two people he knew of that cooked in the group.

"Who made the cake?" Naruto asked.

"Good question," Neji said.

"I did," Sakura said.

"Pass," everyone except Hinata, who had never tried Sakura's cooking before, said.

"I'm not that bad," Sakura said. "Am I?"

"Have you ever tasted your medicine balls?" Naruto asked.

"Well, no," Sakura said.

"I suggest you take a very small bite, for your sake," Naruto said.

Sakura began to pout until Lee, trying to cheer her up, stepped forward and cut himself a slice of cake.

"I wouldn't do that," Naruto warned.

"I have faith in Sakura's cooking!" Lee said overly loudly, as usual.

Lee took a very large bite and instantly regretted it. His face turned lime green and a moment later, he rushed out of the building. Naruto couldn't help but grin and regretted it when Sakura pounded her fist into the top of his head multiple times in a row. Finally Kiba and Neji managed to pull her off and Naruto slumped into a booth holding his head. Ino healed his concussion then went to the back and brought out a table of food.

"Don't worry this food is safe," Ino said.

"How do you know?" Naruto asked.

"Because Hinata made it," Ino said.

"Hinata cooks?" Kiba asked.

Hinata blushed slightly and Naruto smiled.

"Let's eat," Naruto said.

Everyone took some food and began to eat. Naruto used his manors, even though everyone seemed surprised, because he was thoroughly enjoying the meal.

"I gotta say Hinata," Naruto said. "You're a really good cook. You'll make someone an excellent wife some day."

Hinata's face turned so red that the apple she was holding looked pale in comparison. The apple fell out of her hand onto her plate then Hinata began to tip over backward. Kiba held out his hand and caught her then gently leaned her against his shoulder. Then he continued eating. The others all did the same except Naruto whose worry about Hinata's safety returned. The first time he had actually felt it, that he could remember, was when Hinata had fought Jiga to protect Naruto. Then he had felt it again when she had fought the Queen Bee herself. Then he had been confident in her abilities and hadn't been very worried until she had been encased in crystal. Then the worry had returned.

Naruto continued to eat but very slowly. Finally, he decided he was finished even though he hadn't even finished his first plate. He thanked them for throwing the celebration for him then left. He went to his apartment and retrieved his swords then went to the top of the Hokage Monument and Yamato arrived a moment later since Naruto had sent a clone to fetch him.

"Yes?" Yamato asked.

"Can you teach me to use these?" Naruto asked.

"Sure," Yamato said. "But you'll need to be patient."

Naruto nodded and drew the black chokuto. Yamato smiled and tossed him the black ninjato to start with. Naruto nodded and switched swords and Yamato drew the white ninjato. Yamato started off by teaching Naruto the basics of sword play. Then they began to spar and Naruto failed miserably at first. Then he began to get better quickly when Kurama gave him some memories he had of his first Jinchuriki learning to fight with a sword. After about half an hour, Naruto was as good as Mito Uzumaki had been.

THE END

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	2. Chapter 2

I do not own Naruto Shippuden or any of the characters.

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Autopsy

Naruto held his sword ready. He and Yamato had been training just over an hour but Naruto was already a master. He wanted to try dual wielding but would settle for doing that next. Yamato charged forward and swung and Naruto easily blocked it then spun and hit him in the side of the neck with the butt of his sword and Yamato stumbled back and found Naruto's sword at his throat.

"Impressive," Yamato said. "Just over an hour and you're a master."

"My uninvited guest gave me his first host's sword fighting memories," Naruto said. "I forgot he could be helpful."

Yamato nodded then left to tell Tsunade about Naruto's new ability. Naruto created a clone and began dual wielding his chokuto and the clone wielded one ninjato.

_"__Don't get us killed,"_ Kurama said.

Naruto and his clone began to fight and Naruto was sloppy with two at first but quickly improved. After around another hour of fighting, he was excellent at dual wielding and was able to hold his own against more than one clone.

"I am scary good," Naruto said.

_"__You are scary when it comes to how obnoxiously nice you are,"_ Kurama said.

_"__Shut up,"_ Naruto said.

He put his swords away and slung the chokuto diagonally across his back then put the ninjato vertically over them. He headed to his apartment and found the door cracked open about a centimeter. He silently drew a kunai and opened the door then stepped inside. Once inside, he looked around.

There was no one in the living room, which doubled as a kitchen, so he silently checked the bathroom carefully in case someone was using it. He finally moved the the bedroom and found a large box sitting on the bed. It was about the size of Choji and was wrapped in twelve rolls worth of paper.

Naruto kept his kunai ready but tore the paper off then opened the box. Inside was a pile of instant ramen bowls. Naruto smirked and tried to lift the box but it was heavier than it should be, proving that there was something else in it. he pulled out a few bowls of ramen until an off white hood was exposed. Naruto had a feeling he knew who it was but was confused about why she was there. he pulled out more, and got his answer. Hinata was bound and gagged in the bottom of the box and was unconscious. There was a mark on her forehead where she had been hit by something heavy and blunt. She also had blood running out of the corner of her mouth proving that she had put up a fight against whoever it was.

Naruto finished excavating her and lifted her out then untied her and removed the gag. There was a note in the bottom of the box.

The note read, "This is a preview of what's to come for your friends. It will only stop if you leave the Hidden Leaf Village and head to Otogakure. K."

Naruto turned the paper over and saw directions to Otogakure along with a last note.

"P.S. Come alone or I will finish the Hyuga Bitch off."

Naruto wrote down the directions then sent a clone to give the paper to Tsunade. Then he carried Hinata to the hospital where Sakura was just finishing.

"Oh my God!" Sakura said. "What happened?"

"I found her tied up in a box on my bed," Naruto said. "Can you heal her?"

Sakura did and Hinata stirred. She opened her eyes and sat bolt upright ready to fight but relaxed when she saw Naruto.

"You're okay," Naruto said. "Tell us what happened."

"I..." Hinata struggled to remember. "I was attacked by an enemy shinobi. I fought back but lost."

"Did you get a good look at him?" Naruto asked.

"It was a girl," Hinata said. "She looked about twenty three, beautiful, bright red hair, like Gaara's. She wore a green dress over a white shirt. And there was a huge bloody hole in her abdomen like she had been stabbed by something the size of a small tree or something."

"That's not possible," Naruto said.

"She had Sakura's temper," Hinata said.

"That sounds a lot like Kushina," Jiraiya said. "Except that she died years ago."

"Who's Kushina and what are you doing here?" Naruto asked.

"Tsunade sent me," Jiraiya said. "And Kushina was a very skilled kunoichi from a clan that is very nearly gone. There are only three living members left. One is an exceptional sensory ninja from what I hear, one is very skilled in jutsu, and the last is rather headstrong and a bit of an idiot."

"Sounds familiar," Sakura said.

"Shut up," Naruto said.

"Oh, did you understand that one?" Naruto asked.

"I'm not really as slow as I act," Naruto said. "Not all the time at least. I'm no good at planning or understanding strategy, and I suck at following orders, but I can usually read people like an open book."

"Bull," Sakura said.

"I can," Naruto said. "I even know about _that_."

"Bull!" Sakura said. "If you do then why not say something?"

"Figured they should be able to first," Naruto said. "Anyway, I have to go to Otogakure. I'll see you guys soon."

"You're not going alone," Sakura said.

"Yes I am," Naruto said. "I'm not letting anyone get hurt trying to defend me. I can handle whatever I find."

"I'm going," Hinata said. "I have a score to settle with the girl and you'll need back up if you run into Sasuke and Orochimaru."

"Good point," Jiraiya said. "I'm going with you two."

"No!" Naruto said. "No one is going with me!"

"You can't change my mind Naruto," Hinata said. "I'm going."

Naruto sighed and stood then looked around.

"Fine," Naruto said. "We need to go now."

Hinata nodded and stood and Jiraiya looked at the nearby hot spring then nodded. The three of them left the village and began to make their way through the trees toward Otogakure. After about fifty minutes, they stopped at a stream because there was a body laying in it. The body was bleeding heavily and was wearing a black cloak with red clouds. He had long orange hair, metal rods forming piercings all over his body, and grey eyes with a ripple design.

"Rinnegan," Jiraiya said. "That's not possible."

"Jiraiya," Naruto said inspecting the body. "He was bitten."

Jiraiya looked closer and saw that there was exactly one bite mark on the side of his neck.

"I'll take him back to the-" Jiraiya began before the previously dead body shot out of the water and grabbed Jiraiya by the throat.

"HUNGRY!" the body roared opening its mouth until it was about two feet wide, revealing several rows of razor sharp teeth.

Naruto smashed the thing in the back of the neck knocking it out then tied it up.

"Move fast," Naruto said.

Jiraiya nodded and ran back to the village with the creature. Naruto and Hinata continued toward Otogakure. They continued through the night and finally stopped in a clearing to rest for a few hours. Naruto could keep going but Hinata was clearly at the end of her energy.

"Rest," Naruto said. "I'll keep watch."

Hinata nodded and crawled into her sleeping bag and closed her eyes. She drifted off fairly quickly so Naruto sat in a tree to keep watch. They would be at Otogakure by noon the next day. As Naruto sat in the tree, he sent several clones out to help then stared at the sky. He didn't know why but he felt at peace staring at the night sky. Especially away from the lights of the village. He made out the constellations he knew then sighed and looked around then at Hinata. She was fast asleep and he had to admit that she was beautiful. He would never say so out loud but she made even Sakura look like an old hag.

"Sakura would pound me into paste for saying that," Naruto said grinning.

The _thing_ that he had known about that Sakura hadn't believed him was that Shino was gay. It was the single most shocking thing he had found out since returning to the village.

Naruto watched Hinata sleep for a little while longer then left a clone so that he could go relieve himself. When he returned, he released his clone and sat in his spot in the tree again.

After a while, Naruto woke Hinata up when the sun began to rise and they continued. The trip was uneventful until noon when they arrived. The first thing they noticed was that Kabuto was standing next to the redhead that Hinata had described.

"Working with girls willingly now Kabuto?" Naruto asked.

Kabuto opened his mouth similar to how the body with the Rinnegan had and had similar teeth.

"It would be contagious," Naruto said then looked at the woman. "That looks painful."

"Just means I can eat more," the woman said in a raspy voice. "Go Kabuto. Do our master's bidding."

Kabuto turned to leave but three Naruto clones arrived in front of him and drew their swords. Naruto drew the two black swords and dashed forward. Hinata was right behind him and Naruto tossed her the white ninjato. Then he ran past the woman and attacked Kabuto. Kabuto was faster than before but there were simply too many Narutos. Kabuto slashed one Naruto and bit a second then threw him into a third. Then the last Naruto removed his head. All three clones, the injured Narutos, disappeared and Naruto turned toward the woman and Hinata.

Hinata had lost her sword and was trying to fight the woman with her Gentle Fist but the woman simply spit out ever organ Hinata damaged. Naruto cut the woman in half then walked over to Hinata. They turned to leave but heard a groan.

"What the-" Naruto said when he turned back and saw the woman's top half dragging itself toward them.

He drove one sword into her face then pulled it out and the woman dropped dead.

"Weird," Naruto said.

He knelt and drew a kunai and began to cut the body open. Miles away, Shizune was doing the same to the still alive body with the Rinnegan with a scalpel. They both discovered the same thing. The inside of the bodies were rotted so bad that they were black sludge. The only organ with anything possibly living left was the brain. The brain was mostly rotted as well but the section for base instincts and speech were both intact. They could still think and plan on small levels and they had a base instinct to eat any and all living things that had a heart and to spread whatever virus had done the damage to them. Shizune found the virus in a toxin in the teeth. Naruto found the virus sitting in Kabuto's veins.

"I want to try something," Naruto said cutting his hand with a fresh, clean knife.

Shizune killed her body by stabbing the brain. Then she did the same thing as Naruto but only cut her fingertip. Both let some of their blood drip onto their body's tongue and Both bodies sprung to life lunging at Naruto and Shizune only to be killed again.

"Interesting," Naruto said. "Come on. We need to get back."

Hinata nodded and handed Naruto back his sword before they began to run. This time, when Hinata got tired, Naruto carried her piggy-back style. When they reached the village, they went straight to Tsunade's office and arrived in the middle of Shizune's report.

"Oh, hello Naruto," Shizune said. "As I was saying, the body came back to life when my blood landed on its tongue. The only way to kill it was to damage its-"

"Brain," Naruto finished. "Hinata was attacked by a redhead kunoichi and when we found her, she had bitten and infected Kabuto with a virus that turned him into whatever it was she was. We killed him by beheading him."

"Brain stem works too huh?" Shizune asked.

"What are we dealing with?" Tsunade asked.

"Zombies," both of them said.

Naruto shivered at the thought but didn't react any more than that.

"Perfect," Tsunade said. "Send out the call Shizune. Five Kage Summit."

"Yes Ma'am," Shizune said bowing then left.

"Have you spoken with Jiraiya?" Tsunade asked.

"No," Naruto said. "Why?"

"Because I know the first guy we found," Jiraiya said. "I met him on one of my travels. Now he seems to have been turned into a puppet through those piercings he had. The Rinnegan was the trademark jutsu that one of my students had. I don't know how but he was controlling that man. At first. I want you trained in Senjutsu on Mount Myoboku like I was."

"Sure," Naruto said.

"Naruto," Tsunade said. "You need to go find all of your ruling friends besides Gaara. That means Temujin, Koyuki, Shion, and any others that you can think of."

Naruto nodded and he and Hinata left. They found Sakura and the three of them left for the Land of Ogres.

THE END

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	3. Chapter 3

I do not own Naruto Shippuden or any of the characters. I shortened Naruto's Senjutsu training because I didn't feel like rewriting multiple episodes.

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Demons and Zombies

Naruto moved to the front and Sakura moved to the back. The three of them had never been on a mission without a captain or just the three of them. Either way, Naruto had somehow had been elected as acting captain.

"Do either of you know how to fight with a sword?" Naruto asked.

"I do," Sakura said.

"So do I, a little," Hinata said.

Naruto gave Hinata the white chokuto and Sakura the black ninjato. They continued for a short while until it got too dark for anyone but Hinata to see. They stopped and Naruto had some clones build a fire then drew his swords and faced the girls.

"Let's see how well you two can fight with those," Naruto said.

Sakura attacked first and Naruto easily held her off. She was very skilled but she used strength rather than speed. After a few minutes of Naruto easily avoiding her swings, he tripped her and put his blade to her throat.

"Speed," Naruto said. "It's not blunt."

He turned to Hinata and she gulped then charged. She was very fast and precise, even without her Byakugan. Naruto created a clone to test her and she activated her Byakugan. She blocked one Naruto's blades with her sword and used gentle fist to knock the other's away. Then she shoved the first back and spun using the blunt side of the blade to trip one Naruto then stabbed the ground beside his head to simulate finishing him. She turned to fight the other Naruto again but found his blade at her throat.

"Very good Hinata," Naruto said as his clone disappeared. "I must say I'm impressed. If I couldn't use shadow clones, I may not have won."

Hinata blushed and stood then held his sword out.

"Keep it," Naruto said. "It's yours."

Hinata blushed even more but nodded then walked over to sit on a log by the fire. Sakura sat across from her and Naruto sat beside her. He began to clean his swords then put them away and stretched.

"I really hope we don't have to face off with Moryo again," Naruto said.

"Who's we?" Sakura asked. "If he's up and about again, you're going to take him out again."

"I don't want to make another new volcano," Naruto said.

"Naruto!" Gamakichi said appearing in a cloud of smoke. "Time for your training."

"Not now," Naruto said. "We're trying to find all of our friends."

"Naruto," Gamakichi said. "They can summon you back with a scroll. You need the training, trust me."

"It's okay Naruto," Hinata said.

"Summon me if anything happens," Naruto said.

Hinata nodded and Gamakichi spit up a summon scroll. Then he and Naruto both disappeared in a cloud of white smoke. Hinata sighed and opened the scroll. It was about half her height and had a summon seal on it that had instructions beside it. She practiced the hand seals for a while then went to sleep while Sakura kept watch.

Naruto spent hours trying to master Senjutsu with Toad Oil but failed and received a smack from Fukasaku's baton. Finally Fukasaku hit him then sighed.

"Okay Naruto," Fukasaku said. "This is pointless if you can't focus."

"I'm trying," Naruto said.

"Not hard enough," Fukasaku said. "Come on. There's another form of training for you to try."

Fukasaku took Naruto to a spire of pointed rocks then took a slab of stone to the top of a spire, balanced it, and sat on it. Then he told Naruto to do the same.

"I can't do that!" Naruto shouted up at him.

"Not with that attitude," Fukasaku said. "Get up here or I'll make you dance with Gamariki!"

Naruto shivered, grabbed a slab, and all but jumped to the top of a spire. He balanced his slab and began to balance on it. Within a minute, he fell. Fukasaku caught him and lowered him to the ground and Naruto complained then tried again. Over the next few hours, Naruto tried again and again, falling later and later every time. Finally, he managed to stop falling all together.

Fukasaku took him back to the Toad Oil fountain and splashed him. Naruto managed to partially balance the Nature Energy with his own chakra and only partially transformed into a frog.

"Lift that," Fukasaku said pointing at an enormous stone statue of a frog that Fukasaku had explained had been one of Naruto's predecessors.

Naruto lifted it, marveled at his strength, then set it down. Then Fukasaku smashed him in the side of the head with the baton again. Naruto groaned and Fukasaku took him back to the spires.

"Sit on top of one and gather Nature Energy without the Toad Oil," Fukasaku said.

Naruto climbed to the top of the spire and began to gather Nature Energy. After a few minutes, he opened his eyes and Fukasaku stared at him.

"What?" Naruto asked.

"You're in a perfect Sage Mode," Fukasaku said.

"I am?" Naruto asked pulling out a kunai and using the blade for a mirror. "Why am I wearing eye-liner?"

"It's the mark of a true Sage," Fukasaku said. "Now, let's work on your offensive abilities shall we?"

Before either could move, Naruto disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Then he was sitting on the scroll and looked around.

"Why are you wearing eye liner?" Sakura asked.

"Geezer Toad says it's the mark of a true Sage," Naruto said. "I'm not a fan of it."

"I think the color suits you," Sakura said. "You should wear make up more often."

"Very funny," Naruto said.

"We've arrived," Sakura said.

Naruto stood and they all walked into the palace in front of them. The moment they were in, seven hundred guards rushed them and restrained them.

"Test them," Shion said stepping out of the shadows.

One soldier stabbed Naruto but it was a clone so it just disappeared. The real Naruto dropped from the ceiling behind Shion and crossed his sword blades at her throat.

"Isn't this a nice surprise," Naruto said. "None of us are infected. We came to get you to the Leaf Village."

"I can't leave," Shion said. "Moryo has returned."

Naruto stepped back and lowered his blades.

Shion turned and immediately said, "Are you wearing eye-liner?"

"It's...never mind," Naruto said. "It's not actually make up."

Just then Naruto exited Sage Mode and the pigmentation disappeared. Naruto sighed then groaned.

"Okay," Naruto said. "Where's Moryo?"

"He's in the volcano," Shion said. "The new one."

Naruto sighed then turned to leave.

"And just where are you going?" Shion asked.

"To do my job," Naruto said. "Hinata, Sakura, keep her safe."

They nodded but Hinata followed Naruto.

"Hinata, no," Naruto said. "You're not coming with me to fight Moryo."

"But-" Hinata began.

"No!" Naruto snapped. "I'm not going to say it again."

Hinata's face fell and Naruto felt horrible for snapping at her but left. Sakura walked out to Hinata and wrapped an arm around her.

"It's alright Hinata," Sakura said. "He's just protecting you. He's literally the only one who can stop Moryo and live."

Hinata nodded and they went back inside. Naruto moved as fast as he could. he didn't stop once and reached the volcano in record time. He entered Sage mode outside of it then leapt into the air over it and had two clones form a Rasenshuriken. Then he began to fall and got ready to use it. Moryo shot out of the top of the volcano at him and he threw the Rasenshuriken on instinct. The Rasenshuriken tore through Moryo to the spot where all of the necks met then exploded. the explosion completely leveled everything for a mile around. Naruto dropped to the ground and Found Moryo laying in a heap.

"What...did...you...do?" Moryo asked.

"That attack shut down your chakra network," Naruto said. "Now all I have to do is-"

A loud moan interrupted him just before zombies began swarming toward them. Naruto created and threw a Rasengan at them then used the path it cleared to escape. When he was past the zombies, he turned around to see Moryo rising and the zombies dropping dead.

"What an excellent meal," Moryo said. "Unused chakra is so delicious."

Naruto smirked and drew his swords. He charged and began slashing Moryo's throats and Moryo began laughing. After another minute, Moryo suddenly started screaming and growing.

"What is this!?" Moryo tried to shout but most of his heads had been destroyed when Naruto slit their throats.

"That is easy," Naruto said. "I threw a Rasenshuriken down one of your throats."

Moryo roared in anger but was cut off when his necks began to bulge and cut off all of his windpipes. Then he exploded and his remains were scattered throughout the trees. Naruto wiped a bit of slime off of his face then returned to the others. When he arrived, his heart stopped.

The outside of the palace was littered with dead soldiers and zombies. Naruto had feared this and had used that fear and desperation for it to be wrong to make it back in half the time of the trip out.

Naruto dashed inside to see Hinata and Sakura standing in a circle of infected soldiers with Shion standing in the middle.

"Hinata!" Naruto shouted drawing his swords and charging forward. "Sakura! Shion! Drop!"

All three did as instructed and Naruto created a clone who threw Naruto like a large Fuma Shuriken. Naruto used the swords to behead zombies as he flew threw the group. Finally he landed in a roll at the far end of the zombies and stood just as the others ran past. Ten zombies were still standing and glared at Naruto. Naruto began walking forward and the zombies rushed to meet him. He sidestepped one and removed its head then impaled three through the head like a shish kabob. Two ran at him but Naruto removed both heads in one swing and ripped his sword back out of the zombies. The last four circled Naruto and all charged at once but Naruto spun and removed their heads. Then he went after Sakura and Hinata.

THE END

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Read and review. I am having trouble with a couple of relationships. There are Shion(I'm thinking Gaara), Hanabi(I'm thinking Konohamaru, like sister like sister), Yamato, Temujin, and Koyuki. Please vote.


	4. Chapter 4

I do not own Naruto Shippuden or any of the characters.

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Taken

Naruto caught up with them at a waterfall where they had stopped to clean blood off of themselves and the get a drink. The moment Naruto dropped out of the trees, Sakura threw a kunai at him but he slashed it out of the air with his chokuto.

"Oh, it's you," Sakura said relaxing.

"Yeah," Naruto said. "Glad you guys are okay. So, Sakura, escort Shion back to the village. Me and Hinata are going after Gaara."

"B-but, Lady Tsunade said G-Gaara was fine," Hinata said.

"Just want to be sure," Naruto said. "After all, it's a shinobi village. God only knows what their zombies can do."

"Good point," Sakura said. "Be careful."

"I'm always careful," Naruto said. "How many times have I run into a fight I couldn't win?"

"Four," Hinata said. "If you include Jiga."

Naruto gave her a dirty look and she felt bad so he smiled.

"Oh I'm not mad," Naruto said. "C'mon, we should get going."

Hinata nodded and they ran off and Sakura headed back to the Leaf Village.

"So Hinata," Naruto said. "You keep track of fights I lose?"

"Um, not really," Hinata said.

"Yes you do," Naruto said. "So, what was the first fight I ever won?"

"When Iruka protected you from Mizuki," Hinata said. "After that you have a lucky streak a mile wide."

"You know a lot about me," Naruto said. "Why is that?"

"Oh, um..." Hinata avoided his eyes as her face turned red.

"Wait," Naruto said reaching for his sword.

Just as he drew it, two zombies dropped out of the trees. One was hunched over and stood about three feet tall and had a white scorpion tail coming out from under his Akatsuki robe. The other was just over six foot with a full face mask, an Akatsuki robe, and four living masses of black threads and one mask each.

"You've got to be kidding me," Naruto said. "Kakuzu and Sasori?"

"What do we do?" Hinata asked.

"You run," Naruto said entering Sage Mode. "I'll catch up."

"I'm not leaving you," Hinata said.

"Hinata go," Naruto said.

"No!" Hinata said drawing her sword.

Naruto sighed then smiled.

"Okay," Naruto said. "I'll handle Kakuzu. You take Sasori. Be careful Hinata."

Hinata nodded and charged at Sasori. Naruto drew his other sword and ran at Kakuzu at a speed that left Naruto as only a blur. Naruto quickly destroyed the masks then was about to kill Kakuzu when Hinata screamed. He looked and saw that Sasori had managed to break her arm with his tail but had neglected to poison her. Hinata flew toward Naruto and he moved to catch her but Kakuzu beat him to it then smashed Naruto away. Naruto landed on his feet and exited Sage Mode due to exceeding the amount of time he could stay in it. Kakuzu was gone but Sasori had stayed to fight Naruto.

"Okay," Naruto said. "You first."

Naruto charged at Sasori and Sasori charged back and shot his tail forward to meet Naruto. Naruto leapt over it and spun knocking it aside with his ninjato before removing Sasori's head with his chokuto. The body exploded and Sasori stepped out He picked the tail up by the end and the segments snapped together into a six foot long broadsword.

"Impressive," Naruto said. "I like it. I wonder who's is better."

Naruto glanced at his swords and smirked. He channeled his wind type chakra into the blades and smiled as it took the same form Asuma's chakra had on his chakra blades. Naruto blocked a swing from Sasori and dashed forward swinging at Sasori's head but dove aside when he shot the chord in his stomach at him. Naruto stood just in time to roll to the side to avoid Sasori's sword again. Sasori smashed his sword into the ground then swung it sideways after Naruto. Naruto jumped over Sasori's blade and swung at Sasori but Sasori avoided the blade and shot the chord through Naruto. Naruto was pinned to the ground then disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Naruto jumped out of the ground behind Sasori and kicked Sasori away. Then Naruto retrieved his swords and channeled his swords into the blades.

"So, can you talk at all or did you forget to bring your tongues back with you?" Naruto asked.

Sasori just grinned and picked up his sword.

"Fine then," Naruto said. "Let's get this over with."

Naruto and Sasori charged at each other and both swung. Naruto used his ninjato to knock Sasori's sword aside then cut him in half with his chokuto, careful to destroy his core in the process.

"Now, to kick Kakuzu's ass," Naruto said.

THE END

* * *

Read and review


	5. Chapter 5

I do not own Naruto Shippuden or any of the characters.

* * *

_Italics means thoughts._

"_Italics with quotes means conversations with Kurama."_

* * *

Race Between Enemies

Hinata opened her eyes slowly and groaned as the pain in her arm flared again. The only good thing about the pain was that her arm had been reset so it hurt slightly less than before. She was pinned to a wall by the same threads that held Kakuzu together. He told her that he would take her heart once he had finished with her then he would take Naruto's. She seriously doubted that he would be able to take Naruto's heart but she wasn't very excited about him taking hers and she wasn't in the mood to watch him hurt Naruto whether he would succeed or not.

Once Kakuzu had reached the hideout he and Hinata currently occupied, he had pinned her to the wall, then had shredded her clothing. Then he had spent an hour using a kunai and acid to torture her for his own enjoyment. Naruto could have arrived by the time he started had he known where to look. Hinata wasn't even sure she knew where they were herself.

Kakuzu walked into the room and drew a knife. He also pulled a jar of acid out of his cloak and smiled.

"This time I'm going to have all day to enjoy myself," Kakuzu said. "And when I'm done, I'll enjoy myself a lot more before removing your heart."

The way he said it insinuated that he didn't mean by torturing her. Hinata gulped as he removed the cover on the acid jar and dipped the knife in it.

"Ingenious this acid," Kakuzu said. "Doesn't effect metal in the slightest. Burns organic matter like nobody's business, though. Oh, well, I guess it is your business."

With that, he stabbed the knife into her arm and the acid instantly began to burn her. The pain was beyond any and all imagination. It felt like Kakuzu was using razor wire to cut the flesh off of her bones. Kakuzu pulled the knife out and walked back to the acid. This time he poured some into a cup then walked back over to Hinata.

"Such a shame to have to cause such a beautiful woman such pain," Kakuzu said running a hand lightly over Hinata's cheek then down her neck and cutting her shoulder. "The pain can stop if you agree to some terms of mine."

Before she could say anything, Kakuzu poured the acid into the cut. She screamed and the pain grew until it completely eclipsed the previous pain. He skin began to dissolve as did anything else the acid touched. Finally Kakuzu poured water onto the acid and washed it away.

"So," Kakuzu said. "What do you say?"

"You haven't said what you want yet," Hinata said.

"Ah yes," Kakuzu said before slashing Hinata's cheek leaving a shallow cut. "You would have to leave your village and become my...bride, of sorts."

"Never," Hinata said.

Kakuzu sighed then walked over to a fire place and started a fire. Then he set the knife on an anvil so that the blade was over the fire and stood. When the blade was glowing red he picked it up and walked back over to Hinata grinning evilly, even though she couldn't see it through his mask.

"You sure you don't want to reconsider your answer?" Kakuzu asked.

Hinata spit in his eye. He wiped it away and drove the knife into her side in a non-fatal spot.

* * *

Naruto jumped from one branch to another searching high and low. Fifty feet to each side, two more Naruto's did the same. Fifty feet beyond them, two more. The line of clones was over fifty miles long consisting of hundreds of Narutos. The real Naruto was dashing around anywhere his clones missed in Sage Mode so that he could sense Hinata's chakra or even Kakuzu's. He had been searching for nearly an hour and a half when he finally found them. Kakuzu had used a transportation jutsu so Naruto had lost him. Now Naruto could sense them on the horizon. He could also sense that Hinata was in pain so severe that he doubted she would recover fully.

He released all of his clones just as he exited Sage Mode. He swore and began moving toward Hinata at full speed but he knew he couldn't move fast enough. Then he remembered something Choji had given him when he had gone on his training with Jiraiya. He pulled it out and grimaced. It was the same set of three food pills Choji had used during his fight with Jirobo. He didn't have very much body fat after training with Jiraiya so the pills may not help much. He opened it and ate the first pill. He stumbled when the pain first hit then adjusted and sped up. He moved at ten double his normal speed and pushed on despite the near debilitating pain.

* * *

Hinata screamed yet again as the glowing kunai cut her skin and burned her for what had to be the fiftieth time. This time, when the pain was at its peak, Kakuzu poured some acid in and the pain rose to a level previously unreached.

"Impressive," Kakuzu said. "Most would have black out by now. I'll offer one last time. Will you accept my offer?"

"Go to Hell," Hinata said. "Better yet, untie me so I can do it myself."

"There's a little fight in you," Kakuzu said pointing at her with the kunai. "I like that."

"Then you're gonna love me," Naruto said appearing behind him.

Kakuzu drove the kunai into his forehead and Naruto disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"Looks like we're almost out of time," Kakuzu said. "Guess we should start the main even. It's about time."

Kakuzu removed his cloak and reached for his belt but stopped and smiled.

"As much as I would love to get started," Kakuzu said. "I want to enjoy it a bit more. I think I know just the way."

He let her fall from the wall only to lift her with threads and mover her toward the fire.

"Now I can enjoy myself both ways at the same time," Kakuzu said.

He again reached for his belt but before he could even reach it, a chukato sprouted from his chest and his eyes widened. In his surprise, he dropped Hinata into the fire. She screamed and Naruto threw Kakuzu aside then lifted Hinata out of the fire receiving a few burns himself in the process. He lay Hinata on the ground carefully and took in the extent of her injuries. Naruto was beyond happy that he hadn't had to use either of the other pills but now he had almost no energy left.

_"I need help,"_ Naruto said.

_"Let me see," _Kurama said then whistled. _"That looks like it might sting."_

_ "No duh," _Naruto said. _"What do I do?"_

_"Medical Ninjutsu,"_ Kurama said showing him what do do mentally. _"Here, use my chakra."_

Naruto did as Kurama showed him and his hands began to glow green. Hinata's wounds began to mend themselves slowly. He focused on her more serious burns, like the ones she got when she fell into the fire. Once that was fully healed, he moved on to the wounds that had been done by acid. Then he healed the wounds done by the heated kunai. Finally he healed the remaining wounds. The one on her cheek left a faint scar and so did all of the other cuts. The burns from both the fire and acid healed perfectly though. Finally Naruto finished healing her and she began to stir.

Hinata opened her eyes and saw Naruto's face covered in fear and worry. The first thought that jumped into her mind was that Kakuzu had ruined her clothes. She blushed bright red but saw the worry on Naruto's face deepen.

"Are you okay?" Naruto asked.

Hinata nodded and sat up wincing at her still broken arm but staring at her completely healed scars.

"Oh right," Naruto said. "Broken arm."

He healed that in a moment and she stared at him in surprise.

"How do you know Medical Ninjutsu?" Hinata asked.

"A friend showed me," Naruto said then glanced at Hinata's body. "We should probably find you some clothes."

He handed her his jacket and coat then stood and helped her up.

"Are you okay?" Naruto asked again worry still cemented on his face.

"I'm fine," Hinata said forcing a smile that did nothing to ease Naruto's worry. "Thank you for saving me."

Naruto nodded then hugged her. She hugged him back smiling and they stayed like that for a time.

"Next time I tell you to run, run," Naruto said.

"Okay," Hinata said.

Naruto pulled away and saw that Hinata was crying slightly so he gently wiped her tears away. She smiled then they wordlessly turned and began to head back to the Leaf Village to get her some clothes. As they traveled, Hinata noticed that Naruto seemed to be in pain and asked about it.

"Choji gave me some food pills a while ago and I had to use one to reach you on time," Naruto said. "One side effect of the pill is pain."

Hinata nodded and they continued in silence for a while until it got too dark to continue. They stopped and Naruto set up his tent. It was the only tent they had an it was barely big enough for two people.

"You get some sleep and I'll keep watch," Naruto said.

"You need rest too," Hinata said.

"I'm fine," Naruto said.

_"Liar,"_ Kurama said. _"We're both running on empty. Just share the friggin' tent with her wuss."_

Naruto bit back and argument and sighed.

"You need rest," Hinata said again. "You can have the tent. I'll be fine under the stars."

Just then, thunder rumbled in the distance.

"We'll share the tent," Naruto said. "You go first."

Hinata nodded and walked over to the tent but simply lay on top of her sleeping bag rather than getting in it. It was warm out, despite being about to rain.

After a few minutes, Naruto got up and went into the tent after stashing their swords in a log to keep them mostly dry. He also lay on top of his sleeping bag and lay facing Hinata. She was laying back to him and he could tell she wasn't asleep even though she was pretending to be. Naruto Tried to focus on the fact that he had been able to save her from death but his mind kept moving back to what Kakuzu had been done to her because he had been to slow.

"Hinata," Naruto said.

"Yes Naruto?" Hinata asked quietly.

"Please try to be more careful from now on," Naruto said.

Anyone he had said that to in a normal tone of voice would have been offended but his tone was far from normal. There was pain, worry, sorrow, guilt, and even regret in his tone.

"I don't know what I would do if..." he trailed off but she understood perfectly.

_He doesn't know what he would do if I died,_ Hinata thought finishing the sentence. _Naruto's worried about me. And he's in pain because of what happened. I think he even feels guilty._

"Naruto?" Hinata asked.

"Yeah?" Naruto answered.

"It wasn't your fault," Hinata said. "I was the one that was too slow to beat Sasori."

Naruto knew she was right that it wasn't his fault but that didn't change anything about how he felt. Hinata knew he wasn't going to answer so she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep. Naruto closed his eyes as well and slipped into several nightmares all happening at once. All of Naruto's nightmares were of Hinata being tortured and then killed by Kakuzu. At the same time, Hinata was having a nightmare that was simply an instant replay of the torture. While they slept, Hinata scooted closer to Naruto and Naruto pulled her against himself. Then both of their nightmares stopped and Hinata fell into a dreamless sleep while Naruto began to dream of something better than any dream he could remember.

THE END

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Read and review. I feel horrible for the way I made Kakuzu treat Hinata. I love Hinata and apologize for her treatment.


	6. Chapter 6

I do not own Naruto Shippuden or any of the characters.

* * *

The Fallen Sand

Naruto was sitting on a pier with Hinata leaning on his shoulder. The sun was setting in front of them and behind them was a cabin in front of an entire forest of Japanese Cherry Blossom trees. Naruto glanced at Hinata and saw a gold band on her right ring finger. He felt pride and joy but wasn't entirely certain why.

He and Hinata stayed like that until well after the sun had set. Eventually she sat up and he turned to look at her. The moment he did, she kissed him. Then he was laying in the tent again. Hinata was laying beside him wrapped in his arms and was still asleep. Naruto smiled and held Hinata tighter.

_I swear to you Hinata,_ Naruto thought. _I will never let anything bad happen to you again. I swear on my promise to rescue Sasuke, on my future as Hokage, and on everything else I have that I will protect you and will always be there for you._

Then Naruto whispered something so quietly that even he himself could barely hear it. Hinata's eyes fluttered open and she sat up and turned to look at him. He sat up as well and she tried to think of something to say but couldn't. Then, before either had realized they had moved, they kissed. Hinata sighed and wrapped her arms around Naruto's neck and Naruto rested his hands on the small of her back. They stayed like that for a long while, breaking only just long enough to take a breath before continuing. Finally Hinata pulled away and smiled as tears rolled down her cheeks.

Naruto smiled as well and wiped her tears away. He kissed her again then they got up and quickly packed up their stuff before heading back toward the Leaf Village. Both knew that if Hiashi met Hinata before she could get to her room, they were both dead but Hinata assured Naruto that she could make it there before anyone found her.

Naruto waited outside the Main Gate and Hinata snuck into the Hyuga compound from the side then into her room. She quickly got dressed in clothes that hadn't been shredded then grabbed her spare supply of ninja tools then left through the Main Gate and gave Naruto back his stuff. The shinobi standing guard gave Naruto a funny look when they saw who had his stuff but he and Hinata left before they could ask about it.

"So," Hinata said. "To the Hidden Sand Village?"

"As long as there are no more interruptions," Naruto said smiling.

Hinata smiled as well and they continued in silence. Naruto looked up at the sky and thought he saw something shoot through the air in a black blur. He didn't mention it but fell back behind Hinata and sent out clones to set up a perimeter behind them. Then he looked up again and saw another blur this time slightly slower but still too fast to see. The first had gone the way they had come but the other had gone the way they were going.

"Eye's up Hinata," Naruto said.

"Byakugan," Hinata said and began to look around.

After a couple minutes, Naruto saw another blur, this time off in the trees. He saw a clone go after it but the clone didn't disappear so it must not have found anything. They continued and Naruto didn't see anymore blurs. Finally they reached the edge of the desert and stopped. The Sand Village was miraculously on fire despite being made out of sand. There were the blurs of shinobi flashing all around the village and Naruto knew that they needed to hurry. The problem was the puppet that dropped out of the air in front of them.

"Crow?" Naruto asked. "Kankuro?"

Temari landed between Naruto and Crow with her fan drawn.

"Get to the village," Temari said. "The other shinobi need your help. I'll handle Kankuro."

"So he was..." Naruto trailed off and created a clone. "He might come in handy."

Then he and Hinata ran off toward the village but stopped when Black Ant and Salamander appeared. Naruto created a few clones then Sasori's body dropped to the ground and Naruto could see that it was a puppet by the chakra strings attached to his body. Naruto followed the strings until he could see Kankuro standing in the distance. His clothes were shredded and his skin was grey and rotting and a huge chunk was missing from his side.

"Play fetch guys," Naruto said.

His clones all charged at Kankuro but all four puppets blocked the path. Naruto looked back and saw Temari kneeling and holding a cut.

"Hinata," Naruto said. "Help Temari. Probably poison."

Naruto summoned hundreds more clones and the clones charged at Kankuro's puppets. They tore most apart quickly but Kankuro made Sasori shred all of the clones easily then the puppet's head launched into the air and it held up it's hands. Holes opened in the palms and razor sharp triangles with balls attached to the backs shot out at Naruto. Naruto threw Shuriken at the triangles but to no avail. Just then Hinata stepped in front of Naruto and began to use Eight Trigrams Rotation. She knocked all of the triangles out of the air then Naruto grabbed her and leapt into the air just as the balls on the ends of the triangles exploded. Then Hinata spun again and threw Naruto at Kankuro. Kankuro moved Sasori into Naruto's path but Naruto slashed the puppet apart with his swords then landed in a roll and removed Kankuro's head.

"Hinata," Naruto said. "I'm leaving clones, stay safe."

Hinata nodded then went back to healing Temari. Naruto ran to the village and found several shinobi facing twice as many zombies. Naruto jumped over the shinobi and threw kunai into their foreheads killing them.

"Naruto!" Matsuri said.

"Take me to Gaara!" Naruto said drawing his swords.

"Okay," Matsuri said. "This way."

Naruto followed her down a side street and straight into a horde of zombies. Naruto began swinging and decapitated all of the zombies before any of them could realize that he and Matsuri were even there.

"Thanks," Matsuri said. "This way."

She led Naruto through several more streets and past several skirmishes until they reached a large battle. Gaara and several other jounin were using a wide variety of Earth Style jutsu to obliterate several hundred zombies.

"Gaara!" Naruto said.

"Naruto," Gaara said. "What are you doing here?"

"Saving you apparently," Naruto said sending ten clones to thin out the zombies.

"Thank you but we're okay," Gaara said.

"No we're not," Matsuri said. "Our interior defenses are crumbling."

"Interior defenses?" Gaara asked. "We haven't let any through."

"They dug their way up from below," Matsuri said. "Didn't you get the bird?"

"What kind of bird?" Naruto asked suspecting the answer.

"A crow," Matsuri said.

"Itachi!" Naruto shouted. "If you're here anyway, we could use your help!"

"Very good Naruto," Itachi said half forming out of a swarm of crows.

"Akatsuki!" Gaara said.

"I'm here to help," Itachi said.

"Finish these ones so that we can focus on clearing the city," Naruto said. "I'll clear out the ones underneath."

Itachi nodded and disappeared then appeared in full beside them when he released his Genjutsu. Gaara turned and he and his jounin and Matsuri headed back to the village and Naruto followed until they found a hole then dove in.

"This is going to be quick," Itachi said activating his Mangekyo Sharingan. "Amaterasu!"

Black flames sprung to life on all of the zombies heads and Itachi smiled then stood still and tried to decide what he was supposed to do next.

"Itachi," a Naruto clone said walking over. "If you still feel like helping, you could go get Temujin. He's-"

"I know him," Itachi said. "I'm going after him but Sasuke is undoubtedly going to come after me."

"That's fine," Naruto said. "Just make sure that Temujin gets back. Aside from that, your family trouble doesn't concern me if Sasuke can be brought back."

Itachi smiled and a clone landed on his shoulder.

"This is my only real crow," Itachi said. "Hang on to him for me."

The crow flew to Naruto's clone and rested on his shoulder. Then Itachi turned and sprinted away.

* * *

Gaara shot a ball of compacted sand down an alley, as he had countless times since reaching the village, and through several zombies heads then it returned to him and he continued. Several other zombies stumbled out of another alley and a jounin dropped off of the roof and decapitated them.

"How close are we?" Gaara asked.

"You've made excellent progress," the jounin said. "The zombies are retreating into their holes."

"No," Gaara said. "They're charging."

"Charging what?" the jounin asked.

* * *

Naruto charged at the line of zombies in front of him. The zombies were heading for their holes but the moment Naruto's Giant Rasengan obliterated fifty seven of them, they all turned and rushed at him as those on the surface returned to kill him. He created two clones and the three of them slashed their way into the ranks of the thousands of zombies. They got covered in blood inside of five minutes but they were okay. After another thirty minutes, Naruto finally felt a foot collide with his chest. He landed on his back and the zombies surged again having destroyed his clones.

Naruto stood and charged his swords with his chakra. Then he moved forward and began removing heads while ducking, dodging, and removing any hands that took a swipe at him. After another ten minutes, Naruto was again kicked back but this time, the zombies were stopped from charging when the ground under them loosened and they sank into the ground.

"Sand Burial Prison," Gaara said walking down a tunnel and smirking.

"Thanks," Naruto said. "How'd you do that?"

"I loosen the sand under their feet," Gaara said.

"Cool," Naruto said standing and putting his swords away. "Is it over?"

"I believe so," Gaara said. "Is Temari alive?"

"She was when I left her with Hinata," Naruto said. "Matsuri?"

"She went to help some genin," Gaara said. "I haven't seen her."

Naruto nodded and they headed back to the surface. They split up and began to search for survivors. The civilians had all been evacuated so it was no surprise that there were none anywhere dead or alive. Gaara finally found Matsuri laying a blanket over the last of three corpses.

"I'm sorry," Gaara said.

"I was too slow," Matsuri said turning to him and freezing. "Look out!"

Gaara spun around to see a zombie with a katana moving to stab him. Before it could, Matsuri stepped in front of him. The zombie kept moving but less than a second after Matsuri had stepped in front of Gaara, Naruto appeared and slashed the sword down then spun and removed the zombie's head.

"Sorry to ruin your hero moment," Naruto said. "But I don't like having dead friends. I like it better when they're alive."

"You would give your life to save mine?" Gaara asked. "Why?"

"Because you are the Kazekage," Matsuri said.

"Tell him," Hinata said as she and Temari landed behind Naruto. "Trust me. It's a lot easier once you do."

"Tell me what?" Gaara asked.

"I...love you," Matsuri said.

"And why didn't you tell me before?" Gaara asked.

"You're the Kazekage," Matsuri said. "It isn't proper."

"You're right about that," Gaara said.

"Oh just say it," Naruto said.

Gaara's face turned the color of his hair but he still managed to say, "I-I...l-love y-you t-too."

Matsuri stared at him for a moment then threw her arms around him and kissed him. Naruto smirked and Hinata smiled. After a couple minutes, Matsuri pulled away and smiled.

"Not to interrupt but we have other friends we need to rescue," Naruto said. "Feel like tagging along?"

"Sure," Matsuri said.

"Okay," Gaara said. "Temari, get the survivors to the Hidden Leaf."

Temari nodded then left. Naruto and his new team turned and began to head toward the nearest port village and prayed ther could find a ship that could sail.

THE END

* * *

Read and review. I need someone to pair both Shion and Temujin with. I will also take suggestions for the others in the Konoha 11 plus Sai. I will not update again without at least one suggestion for each.


	7. Chapter 7

I do not own Naruto Shippuden or any of the characters.

* * *

Him Again

When the sun sank below the horizon, Naruto and the others stopped for the night. they were almost at the port village but didn't want to get there at night. They wanted to be able to see if they were going to have to fight.

"You two get some rest," Naruto said. "Gaara and I will handle guard duty."

Matsuri nodded and went to bed and Hinata did as well, albeit a bit more hesitantly.

"What do you think we will find in the Land of Snow?" Gaara asked.

"I have a few theories," Naruto said. "So far I'm praying I'm wrong."

"I see," Gaara said. "Perhaps we will not find anything except what we want to."

"A safe haven from the zombies?" Naruto asked. "Wouldn't that be nice."

"We probably won't find that but we may be able to retrieve Lady Koyuki without any trouble," Gaara said.

"Gaara," Naruto said. "How many times have things ever been easy for us?"

"You have a point," Gaara said. "So, I guess we better plan for the worst."

Naruto nodded and sent out clones to make a perimeter then he and Gaara began to make a plan. When the sun rose, they woke up the others and they all went to the village and took the only intact ship. Once they were on their way, one of Naruto's clones took the helm while others played the role of the crew. Naruto leaned on the handrail with Hinata and Gaara and Matsuri sat in the crow's nest. Everything was going fine until Gaara glanced to his left and saw a storm moving toward them rapidly.

"Storm!" Gaara called down to Naruto.

"Thanks!" Naruto said.

They continued to sail but the clones all got ready to do anything they might need to to survive the storm. The storm hit a short time later and they managed to continue despite enormous waves. After a good hour of this, the storm began to get worse. Then, a tornado began to form above them.

"Dear God," Gaara said. "Abandon ship!"

Naruto wasted no time in jumping overboard with Hinata followed by all of his clones. Gaara and Matsuri followed and Gaara barely managed to stay on top of the water.

"You okay?" Naruto asked.

"I don't practice walking on water that often because I can levitate on my sand," Gaara said.

"I could carry you," a Naruto clone teased grinning until Gaara threw a kunai through him.

"We need to move," Hinata said pointing.

Three clones were struggling against the wind, but they were slowly sliding toward the tornado and they were picking up speed. Water was being sucked up into the tornado forming an inverted funnel of water. The water was pulled up so high on the tornado that it began to freeze.

"Crap," Naruto said. "Run!"

They began to run and after three minutes, the frozen water shot at them. It had frozen into spikes and Naruto could have sworn it was a jutsu if he wasn't watching it. The shards of ice shot in every direction but the Naruto clones shielded everyone.

Naruto created more each time some died and they kept running. It was working for the most part but Naruto was losing energy like crazy and was barely keeping up with the rate of the clones destruction.

After an hour, Naruto couldn't create anymore clones and collapsed from exhaustion. Hinata ran back to him just as more spikes shot out of the tornado. Just before they hit her, Naruto grabbed her and pulled her underwater. Gaara and Matsuri both dove under as well. They swam as fast as they could breaking to breath as far between as they could and as fast as they could. Finally, the tornado caught them and pulled them up. Once they were at the same height as the shards shot from, the tornado sent them flying. Naruto managed to shield Hinata from the landing and Gaara did the same for Matsuri and they crashed down in the water, bouncing three times before smashing under the surface and shooting along for another hundred feet. Finally, they swam to the surface and found themselves a hundred feet from the shore of the Land of Snow. Hinata and Matsuri pulled an unconscious Naruto and Gaara to the shore then into a nearby cave.

"Can you heal them?" Matsuri asked.

"Yes," Hinata said.

Hinata healed Gaara first since he was less severely injured due to the sand helping shield him from the collision. Then she began healing Naruto and found several smashed vertebrae. After an hour she finished healing what she could and let him rest.

"Thank you," Gaara said. "Unfortunately I'm now out of sand."

"I'm sorry," Matsuri said.

"It's not your fault," Gaara said. "I'll just need to get some more and lace it with my chakra."

"Ow," Naruto said sitting up and cracking his back loudly. "Good job healing me Hinata."

"Thank you," Hinata said blushing slightly.

"How long do you think it'll be until the rain stops?" Naruto asked.

"A while," Gaara said using an Earth Style jutsu to crush the floor of the cave into sand. "I suggest you rest."

He laced his chakra with the newly formed sand then filled his gourd with it. He tested the sand by tossing a rock into the air and letting it fall at him and the sand protected him perfectly. He seemed satisfied so he set the gourd down and went to sleep. Naruto grinned and sat against the wall and also blacked out. A couple of hours later, Hinata woke them up to tell them that the rain had stopped.

"Let's go," Naruto said standing and reaching for his swords only to find their scabbards empty. "My swords!"

"I have them," Hinata said. "I picked them up after we landed."

"Oh, thanks," Naruto said.

He put them away then looked around. Gaara was ready and so was Hinata but Matsuri was on the verge of passing out. Naruto created a clone who knelt in front of her.

"He'll carry you so that you can sleep," Naruto said.

"Okay," Matsuri said.

The Naruto clone picked her up piggy back style and they all left the cave heading for Doto's mansion. When they arrived, Naruto stopped. The last time he had been here, he had been chained in a prison cell with a Chakra Negator strapped to his stomach. Then, the mansion had been dark and foreboding. Now, it looked like they had stepped back in time.

"This can't be good," Naruto said.

"Why?" Hinata asked.

"Doto," Naruto said. "Gaara. I'm really glad you're here, but he uses Water Style jutsus."

"I see," Gaara said. "Does he have subordinates?"

"Yes," Naruto said. "Three. they use kunai that cause giant ice thorns to impale anyone not fast enough to dodge them."

"I'll handle them," Gaara said.

"He also has an army of shinobi who are about as skilled as the average jounin," Naruto said.

"On second thought, I'll handle them," Gaara said. "Matsuri, you and Hinata will have to handle the other three. Be careful."

Matsuri nodded and Naruto dashed forward a bit then stopped and summoned two clones. He entered Sage Mode then created a Rasenshuriken and threw it at the mansion. It exploded against the side and part of the tower collapsed. Three ninja began running across the field between them. Naruto was thankful it was Spring because it meant that their enemies wouldn't be able to use as powerful jutsu.

"We'll handle them," Hinata said. "You guys go."

"Okay," Naruto said. "Fair warning, the big guy's got a mechanical hand that he can shoot and has a chord attached so he can retract it. The other guy's good at jutsu and the girl can fly but relies heavily on kunai that can generate ice spikes big enough to wound the Chief Toad."

"Okay," Hinata said.

Naruto and Gaara ran out around the three shinobi and then toward the tower. A train pulled up in front of the breach and the sides opened to reveal hundreds of small holes in each car all of which were angles so that they could hit Naruto and Gaara. There was a seat at the top of each car occupied by a Snow Ninja zombie and there was a mechanism with a crank in front of them.

"The train launches kunai!" Naruto said.

Gaara moved in front of Naruto and the zombies began turning their handles as fast as they could. Kunai began to shoot at Gaara and Naruto and Naruto used clones to cover the sides while Gaara's Absolute Protection protected the front. Once the train had stopped firing, Naruto leapt over Gaara and landed just as the train in front of them fired again. Naruto couldn't dodge them but before he had to try, Sasuke dropped in front of him and slashed a gap in the kunai cloud with his Chidori.

"Naruto," Sasuke said. "Let's go."

"Right," Naruto said.

They ran forward and both threw a kunai with a paper bomb at two different points on the train and when they exploded, the train was flipped over by the concussion. Naruto smiled and they both jumped over the train and into the tower. They climbed through the tower killing zombies until they reached the top where Doto sat in his thrown like he didn't have a care in the world.

"Hello brats," Doto said.

Just then, two Akatsuki members dropped to the ground and drove Chakra Negators into their stomachs. The Chakra Negators activated and electrocuted Sasuke and Naruto who fell to the floor.

"You two are pathetic," Kisame said standing over Naruto.

"I agree," Deidara said.

"You're still alive huh?" Naruto asked. "Good. I'll take fish boy."

"Deal," Sasuke said as he and Naruto stood despite the Chakra Negator electrocuting them.

"Shall we?" Naruto asked.

"Do you need to ask?" Sasuke asked.

They both began to funnel as much chakra into the Chakra Negators as they could and after about one painful minute, the Chakra Negators overloaded and exploded before falling off.

"Now then," Naruto said drawing his swords.

"This will be fun," Sasuke said.

"I agree," Doto said. "I'm going to enjoy the show."

Sasuke and Deidara leapt out of the mansion where they would have more room and Kisame swung at Naruto. Naruto easily blocked it then spun and swung at Kisame's stomach. Kisame jumped back and Naruto chased him. Kisame swung again and Naruto blocked it then shoved it back shredding the bandages. Then he swung at Kisame's head again this time charging his blade with chakra. Kisame blocked it and Samehada absorbed Naruto's chakra and grew. Naruto stopped charging his blade and shoved Kisame's sword away again then stepped back. Samehada was now about as broad as Kisame was tall.

"That's a lot of chakra," Kisame said. "Let's see how you like it shall w-"

He stopped when a chokuto blade sprouted from his face. The Naruto he had been talking to disappeared and the real one removed his sword.

"You should pay better attention," Naruto said.

Sasuke landed on his feet and instantly jumped again just before a hidden land mine exploded.

"Sharingan!" Sasuke said and looked around. He could see the mines so he grinned. "Chidori Senbon!"

He shot Chidori Senbon into all of the mines then landed and smirked up at Deidara who was standing on a clay bird.

"Impressive," Deidara said. "Shall we begin?"

Just then Sasuke's chokuto sprouted from Deidara's chest and Sasuke appeared behind him as the Sasuke Deidara had been seeing thanks to a Genjutsu disappeared.

"Already did," Sasuke said before ripping his sword upward.

He looked back at the mansion to see Naruto had also finished his fight. He joined him and Doto stood clapping.

"Very good," Doto said. "I'm impressed. But now I'm beyond you two."

"I don't think so," Sasuke said entering his curse mark two form.

"Same here," Naruto said entering Sage Mode then smirked at Sasuke. "I'm stronger than you."

"Shut up," Sasuke said.

"My turn," Doto said and cracked his neck then pulled the center of his armor out and replaced it with a pure Gelel Stone.

"Oh shit," Naruto said.

"What?" Sasuke asked.

"That's a Gelel Stone," Naruto said. "You need to go get the girls and Gaara and get out of here. He's right. He's beyond us while he's got that."

"So wasn't Haido," a familiar voice said as Temujin and Itachi landed beside them.

"Temujin!" Naruto said. "Glad you're here. Ready?"

"Yes," Temujin said holding his hand over Naruto's.

Naruto created a Gelel Rasengan and held his out to Sasuke.

"I'll need a Chidori Rasengan too," Naruto said.

Sasuke held his hand over Naruto's and Naruto created the Chidori Rasengan. Then he turned and charged at Doto.

"Nice try," Doto said. "Ice Style, Twin Dragon Blizzard!"

Two huge black dragons erupted from his hands and Naruto used the Gelel Rasengan to blast his way through. Naruto slammed the Chidori Rasengan against the force field Doto's armor had created but just as the shield shattered, the Rasengan disappeared and Doto slammed Naruto back. Naruto landed on his feet and grinned.

"Impressive," Naruto said. "You've upgraded your armor."

"Naruto!" Koyuki said running up the stairs.

"Hey Koyuki," Naruto said. "Almost done here."

"You think so?" Doto asked.

He grinned and his armor exploded off of him. Then his body changed until it was similar to what Haido's had looked like when he had been using the power of a Gelel Stone.

"Still almost done," Naruto said.

The Gelel Stone was imbedded in Doto's chest and it began to glow. Naruto summoned two clones. One charged Doto as a distraction and the other formed a Giant Rasengan. Doto easily destroyed the clone then a blast of energy shot out of the Gelel Stone and blasted everyone in the room out of the mansion except Koyuki. Naruto flipped over and saw that they were falling straight toward an army of zombies. He smashed the Giant Rasengan into one of them and it exploded clearing a space for them to land without being swarmed. Hinata and Matsuri landed beside them and got ready to fight. Naruto created a Rasenshuriken and threw it into the zombies. The rest of the zombies charged and Gaara smashed the first fifteen rows with a huge fist made out of sand. Then Naruto and Hinata moved into the zombies and began to behead them. Matsuri beheaded anyone that tried to get close enough to get to Gaara and after ten minutes, there was only a small number of zombies left. The Zombies began to retreat and Doto blasted the rest of them into tiny pieces.

"Where's Koyuki?" Naruto asked.

"HEEEELP!" Koyuki screamed from above them.

They all looked up and saw that Doto had grown wings and was hovering over them with Koyuki under his arm.

"Now what are you going to do Naruto?" Doto asked.

"Simple," Naruto said then disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"This!" the real Naruto said falling past Doto and pulling Koyuki free before kicking Doto into the ground.

He landed beside the crater and set Koyuki down then turned to see Doto standing and brushing himself off.

"Not bad," Doto said. "Too bad you still can't hurt me."

"Want to find out?" Naruto asked.

"Sure," Doto said. "But looks like your time's up."

Naruto exited Sage Mode and sighed.

"Shall we begin?" Doto asked.

"Give me a couple seconds," Naruto said.

"One...two," Doto said then appeared behind Naruto and smashed him skyward.

Naruto flipped over and smashed his fist into Doto's face but felt his wrist break before Doto flipped over him and smashed him back down into the ground. Naruto created a clone who went a ways away to gather Nature Energy but Doto blasted it before continuing to attack Naruto. He smashed Naruto across the ground and when Naruto stopped he didn't try to stand and began to gather Nature Energy. Doto smashed into his back and Naruto stopped before he could mutate into a frog. Then Doto threw Naruto across the ground again and Gaara caught him.

"Hurry Naruto," Gaara said.

Gaara held his hand up and Sand shot up and surrounded Doto. Before Gaara could blast Doto, however, he blasted the inside of his sand coffin and the sand flew off of him. He charged at Naruto again and Naruto entered Sage mode just in time to duck under his lariat and drove his knee into Doto's chest. Doto flew backward and landed on his feet then sprinted forward. Naruto moved to match him and they punched each other in the face. Both flew backward but Naruto managed to stand while Doto tried but collapsed.

"Impressive," Doto said. "I didn't think you could match me."

"Match?" Naruto asked. "I won."

"Did you?" Doto asked then blasted Naruto.

Naruto landed on his back unconscious and Hinata beheaded Doto before running over to Naruto. She began healing him and after a moment he was mostly healed but the blast had severely weakened his skeletal system resulting in him barely being able to move without breaking a bone.

"What do we do?" Hinata asked.

"I don't know," Naruto said.

"I do," Koyuki said walking over and handing Hinata a bottle of liquid. "This is called a panacea. It can heal any illness but not any injury. Last I heard, there was a shinobi that attacked the Hidden Leaf that was able to control his skeletal system at will."

"Kimimaro," Gaara said. "I fought him. He died."

"You can still get his DNA though," Koyuki said. "Then Lady Tsunade can merge it with his own. And if she can't-"

"Koyuki," Naruto said then shook his head.

"What?" Hinata asked.

"It's nothing," Naruto said. "We need to get going. Tsunade should know where Kimimaro was dumped."

Hinata picked Naruto up and Gaara retrieved his swords. Then they all began heading home with Matsuri carrying Koyuki.

THE END

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	8. Chapter 8

I do not own Naruto Shippuden or any of the characters.

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_Italics mean thoughts._

"_Italics with quotes means conversations with Kurama."_

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Truth

Naruto gritted his teeth as Tsunade pushed a needle into his arm and injected him with something. When she had pulled the needle out he sighed.

"That wasn't so bad," Naruto said.

"That was the anesthetic," Tsunade said.

"Oh," Naruto said. "That makes sense."

_"You're an idiot,"_ Kurama said. _"I've got a jutsu you may need to know."_

He flashed the jutsu through Naruto's head and Naruto grinned at how simple the technique was but how helpful it would be. Naruto had gotten back to the Leaf Village about a day before and Itachi had disappeared before they arrived so Sasuke went after him. Temujin, however, stayed at the Hidden Leaf. Now, Naruto was about to be injected with Kimimaro's DNA.

"Are you ready?" Tsunade asked.

"To control my bones?" Naruto asked. "Any day. To have a fatal disease? Not so much."

"That's why that's here," Tsunade said nodding at the panacea. "Here we go."

She injected him with Kimimaro's blood and began trying to use Medical Ninjutsu to merge the DNA with Naruto's own. After fifty seconds, she couldn't.

"I can't," Tsunade said. "I'm sorry. You have the disease but not his ability."

"Koyuki said there might be someone else who could," Hinata said.

"She might be right," Tsunade said. "Come on. I need you to help me find the Eternal Genin."

Hinata nodded and left. Tsunade nodded to Naruto then left with her. Naruto then sighed and glanced sideways at Gaara.

"She wants me to talk to Kurama right?" Naruto asked.

"Yes," Gaara said. "Your tailed beast may be the only person capable of merging the foreign DNA with yours."

Naruto nodded then closed his eyes and yawned.

"I want a nap," Naruto said. _"What do you say Kurama? Can you do it?"_

_"Already done,"_ Kurama said. _"The pain should start in three, two, one."_

Naruto's body suddenly felt like he was on fire. He began to convulse violently so Gaara restrained him with sand. After a moment, Naruto's pain subsided and Kurama told him it was over. Gaara released Naruto as Kurama flooded Naruto's head with all the knowledge he had about controlling his bones.

Naruto started with trying to stand and smiled when his bones didn't shatter like glass. He cracked his neck and stretched after five days of not moving. Then he held his hand up and a bone spike extended from it.

"That is too cool," Naruto said. "I want chakra blades."

He made two chakra blades shaped like Asuma's rise out of his hand. They were made out of his bones so they were completely compatible with his chakra but no one else's.

"Your personal blades," Gaara said smiling. "You know, there's an urban legend that the chakra of soul mates is an exact match to each other's. The legend says that soul mates are so perfect for each other that they share each other's life force and if one died, so would the other."

"I hope my soul mate isn't bitten then," Naruto said.

"You don't know who it is?" Gaara asked.

"Does anyone?" Naruto asked. "Who's yours?"

"Not a clue," Gaara said. "I don't think I have one."

"Not true," Naruto said. "Even Shino has one."

"That's very rude," Gaara said. "True though."

"I'm going to train," Naruto said. "Tell Hinata to meet me at the Hokage Monument."

With that, Naruto jumped out the window and ran to the monument. He stopped at his apartment to change first then went the rest of the way. When he arrived, he created clones who attacked him with their swords. He was able to use the chakra blades faster so he quickly took the clones out more efficiently than if he had used his swords. He liked the blades more than his swords and was a lot better with them but decided to keep the swords as his primary weapon anyway since it was easier to be on both the offensive and defensive with them.

"Naruto," Hinata said.

"Hey Hinata," Naruto said. "Check it out."

He grew a bone spike out of his hand and Hinata gasped.

"But, Tsunade said only the Eternal Genin could do it," Hinata said.

"A friend of mine was actually the only person who could do it," Naruto said. "But a lot of people hate him so she helps me keep him hidden."

_"Friend?"_ Kurama asked. _"I think I'm going to be sick."_

"Oh," Hinata said. "Well, is there something you wanted?"

"Yes," Naruto said. "I think it's time you met my friend."

_"Brilliant plan,"_ Kurama said. _"What happens when she's afraid of you?"_

"Okay," Hinata said.

Naruto sat and she sat beside him. He took her hand then pulled both of them into his mindscape appearing in front of Kurama's cage. Kurama moved his head into the light and grinned.

"Hello Hinata Hyuga," Kurama said. "I've heard a lot about you...I was starting to feel sick."

"Wha...what are you?" Hinata asked. "Where are we?"

"We're in my mind," Naruto said. "That is the secret I've hidden my entire life."

"I am the Nine-tailed Demon Fox Kurama," Kurama said dipping his head in a bow. "I can't wait until I break out of here. Then I'll kill you first. It's truly an honor for you."

"You're not going to touch her Kurama," Naruto said.

"The Nine-tails lives inside of you?" Hinata asked.

"Yes," Naruto said. "I'm the Jinchuriki of the Nine-tailed Beast."

Hinata stared at Kurama in awe then turned to look at Naruto.

"That's why everyone treated you like a monster," Hinata said.

"Yes," Naruto said. "They all think that I'm him."

Hinata nodded then hugged him.

"Thank you for telling me the truth," Hinata said. "I know you're not a monster."

"Thank you for accepting me despite having a monster inside me," Naruto said.

"Enough already!" Kurama groaned putting his hands over his eyes. "I'm going to hurl. Then you'll be sorry!"

Naruto smirked and returned himself and Hinata to their bodies. Hinata stood and walked a little ways away then smiled.

"So," Hinata said. "Ready for a race?"

"To where?" Naruto asked.

"Catch me and you'll see," Hinata said then turned and ran off.

Naruto smiled and ran after her. After about five minutes of her doing anything she could think of to keep out of his reach, they reached the edge of the village and Hinata began to get away by jumping past him over the trees. Finally, Naruto managed to catch her and tackled her into a clearing. They landed and rolled coming to a stop beside a pond that Naruto had never known was even there. He sat up pinning Hinata to the ground by sitting on her stomach.

"Not bad," Naruto said looking around.

The pond was fed by a small waterfall coming off a low cliff. There was a cave behind the waterfall and a thin path heading around the waterfall to the entrance. Naruto could see that the roof of the cave was studded with gemstones. The pond itself was crystal clear and had stone lining the walls and bottom. There was a line of stones around the top of the pond and the grass in the rest of the clearing was incredibly soft.

"It's got to have been made by a jutsu, right?" Naruto asked.

_ "It wasn't,"_ Kurama said. _"It's natural."_

Naruto smiled and looked down at Hinata. She was blushing madly at Naruto sitting on her but was staring at the cave.

"It's beautiful," Naruto said.

"Yes," Hinata said.

Naruto grinned and got up throwing her over his shoulder. Then he walked to the cave taking care to get her soaking wet on the way.

"Hey!" Hinata said. "You did that on purpose!"

"Yep," Naruto said setting her down and looking around.

The cave was more of a tunnel because he couldn't see the end of the cave. It went down into the ground for a ways then leveled out and the roof of the slope blocked his view after that.

"I want to explore," Naruto said.

"Me too," Hinata said and they slid down the slope together.

They walked along the tunnel until they reached a cavern that was the end of the tunnel but was enormous. It was easily three hundred meters across and five hundred tall. The walls and ceiling were studded with gemstones that glowed as the main source of light.

Naruto walked to the center and clapped. The sound reverberated around the cavern and out through the tunnel then was cut off by the waterfall. It would be difficult at best for anyone outside to hear anything inside and it would be an awesome place for people to meet without someone listening in.

"I like it," Naruto said. "I want to live here."

"I think it's a little empty," Hinata said.

Naruto grinned and filled the cavern with Shadow clones and Hinata giggled.

"Not what I meant," Hinata said.

"I know," Naruto said.

He released the clones and walked back to the tunnel and looked up. He could see the sky and saw that it was starting to get dark. He smirked and turned back.

"It's getting late," Naruto said.

"I should get home," Hinata said.

"Why?" Naruto asked. "I'm sleeping here."

"Yes but you don't have an overbearing father who will disown you for staying out over night," Hinata said.

"True," Naruto said. "Send a clone."

"I can't use shadow clones," Hinata said. "And he would know it wasn't me when it disappeared."

"They don't disappear when they go to sleep," Naruto said.

"Oh," Hinata said. "I still don't know how to use the jutsu."

Naruto smiled and showed her how and she created a clone who left for home.

"So," Hinata said. "Where are we going to sleep?"

Naruto smirked and held his hand out. Bones shot out of his hand in the form of spikes then grew into a bed frame. A moment later two of his clones slid into the cavern with a King-size mattress.

"You knew I would stay," Hinata said.

"Yep," Naruto said.

Hinata smiled and leaned on Naruto's shoulder as the clones set the mattress down on the frame then disappeared. Hinata walked over to the bed and smirked. She had completely missed the fact that there were already sheets and a comfort on the mattress.

"Hinata," Naruto said.

She turned toward him and her eyes widened when his lips met hers. She sighed and kissed him back wrapping her arms around his neck. He rested his hands on her waist and they continued kissing for a few minutes. Naruto and Hinata sat on the bed at some point and then somehow ended up with Hinata laying on her back and Naruto laying on top of her. His hands moved to the sides of her face then began to drift downward. Finally he pulled away so that he couldn't go too far.

"I'm sorry," Naruto said sitting up.

"I-it's okay," Hinata said. "I want this too. I've wanted this for a long time."

Naruto smiled and kissed her again. They lay down again and this time neither pulled away.

THE END

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	9. Chapter 9

I do not own Naruto Shippuden. Still waiting for suggestions about pairings for those mentioned a few chapters ago. Will not update after this chapter without a suggestion for Shion, Temujin, Hanabi, Yamato, and Koyuki.

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Sibling Rivalry

Naruto opened his eyes and smiled seeing Hinata laying in his arms. He remembered what had happened the night before instantly and his smile widened. He ran a hand through her hair lightly. He could see day light streaming through the opening to the tunnel and knew they needed to leave soon but at the moment he didn't really care if anyone got mad at them or even if someone found them.

"We need to leave don't we?" Hinata asked looking up at him.

"Probably," Naruto said. "I'm sure they'll survive if we stayed for a little longer, though."

"I would love to," Hinata said. "But I seem to recall a zombie apocalypse that we're late for."

"True," Naruto said.

He sighed then stood and got dressed while Hinata did the same then they both left and Naruto had two clones take his bed home. They went to their apartments to clean up and put on fresh clothes then met back up at the Main Gate.

"How many are left?" Hinata asked.

"Well," Naruto said thinking. "There's Michiru and Hikaru and...actually I think that's all."

Hinata nodded and they began to leave. They would have to take a very long boat ride to get there so Naruto was unsure about leaving but didn't want to leave them to die either.

"Leave clones," Hinata said suspecting what he was worried about. "They can protect the village while we're away."

"True," Naruto said. "I just pray that this time my old enemies really haven't returned."

They reached a port city inside of an hour and began looking for a ship. Unfortunately, all of them were destroyed.

"You know," Naruto said. "For a Zombie Apocalypse, there aren't very many zombies around today."

"No kidding," Hinata said. "I'm kind of happy about that. Maybe they're dying off."

"Or preparing," Naruto said. "Kushina said they had a master. How much do you want to bet it's Orochimaru? Maybe one of his experiments went so wrong that it made a zombie."

"How did they get Kushina?" Hinata asked. "Jiraiya said she had been dead for years, she'd be little more than bleached bones."

"I'm thinking about that," Naruto said.

"Naruto!" Itachi said as he landed beside them.

"Hello Itachi," Naruto said. "Has Sasuke found you?"

"Not yet," Itachi said.

"Sorry to ruin your record," Sasuke said landing a ways away from them.

"Do we really need to do this now?" Itachi asked. "There's a Zombie Apocalypse going on."

"Your point?" Sasuke asked.

"You should be helping us not focused on Itachi's death," Naruto said.

"I'll focus on killing the zombies after I kill Itachi," Sasuke said. "I've already dealt with Orochimaru, now I will deal with my brother."

"First, allow me to clarify the Apocalypse to Naruto and you then the reason behind my actions," Itachi said.

"Fine," Sasuke said.

"The First zombie, Kushina Uzumaki, was created by an Akatsuki member wearing a spiral mask and calling himself Tobi," Itachi said.

"Uzumaki?" Naruto asked. "You mean...she was my..."

"Tobi, however," Itachi said continued, "could not create the zombie without assistance. The body was nothing more than bones. In order to create the zombie, he needed an ally that existed outside of time. There are three different stories that fit this theme. One is a power source that can be used to do anything but was long ago sealed. The second, was the Ten-tails but he no longer exists as himself. The last, is a creature made and powered by hate, anger, and evil. That, is his ally. However, in order for his ally to do what needed to be done, the creature needed to move through time. Tobi aided him and that weakened him so he went into hiding behind the persona he still hides behind. He acts as a bumbling fool. He cannot be touched if he doesn't want to, however, which makes him a large threat. Once he regains his strength, he will begin to act and will be very capable of killing you if you aren't careful."

"What is the creature?" Naruto asked.

"You've fought him before," Itachi said. "He's a tailed beast without tails. He's living chakra but doesn't use chakra. He's a leach both literally and in the way he fights."

"The Zero-tails," Naruto said. "The Zero-tails is helping Tobi?"

"Was," Itachi said. "He spent all of his strength taking Tobi to the past then sending him back."

"He can return though," Naruto said. "As long as someone is angry or evil enough."

"I know," Itachi said. "But so far no one is that evil."

"What about Tobi?" Naruto asked.

"No," Itachi said. "He may be evil but he cannot revive the Zero-tails, for whatever reason."

Naruto nodded then glanced at Sasuke.

"Now explain why you killed the Uchiha," Naruto said.

"Simple," Itachi said. "For the Hidden Leaf and for Sasuke."

"What?" Sasuke asked.

"Tobi met with me before I did it," Itachi said. "He introduced himself as Madara Uchiha. Then he told me that he was going to destroy the village. But he also wanted to destroy the Uchiha especially. I made a deal with him. I would personally kill the Uchiha for him so that he could remain unknown and in return he would spare the village. At the same time, he would allow me to let my brother, the most important thing in the world to me, live. I needed to make you stronger. So I told you about the Mangekyo Sharingan. But there is a limit to even that. The more it is used, the more the user's eyes deteriorate. Eventually the user becomes completely blind. This was the case with Madara Uchiha, the real one. However, he was power hungry and could not stand to be blind. In order to save himself, he stole his brother's Mangekyo Sharingan and transplanted them into his own. His sight was restored and he gained a power long past that of anything before seen. That power, was the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan. That, is the only thing that can allow you to fight Tobi. Sasuke, you need to have your Mangekyo Sharingan awakened, then you must take mine. I am dying. You, are healthy and needed. Go with Naruto and end the Zombie Apocalypse then you may do as you wish. But for now, the world needs you."

"How do we end it?" Naruto asked.

"By killing the one who started it," Itachi said. "All of them."

"There were more than Tobi and the Zero-tails?" Naruto asked.

"Unfortunately yes," Itachi said. "It was not Tobi's knowledge or jutsu that created the first zombie, only his skill. The jutsu and knowledge both came from Danzo and the other elders of the Hidden Leaf Village who also ordered me to kill the Uchiha for fear of an uprising."

"Round and round we go," Naruto said.

"How many need to die?" Sasuke asked.

"Danzo, the Zero-tails, Tobi, Homura Mitokado, Koharu Utatane, and the true Madara Uchiha," Itachi said.

"Madara Uchiha died," Naruto said.

"He was also revived as a zombie, the ultimate zombie," Itachi said. "Tobi may command the other zombies, but Madara Uchiha commands Tobi."

"I see," Naruto said. "What are they hunting Jinchuriki for?"

"A weapon, able to be powered only by the Tailed Beasts preferably through their Jinchuriki but not necessarily," Itachi said. "The weapon is completely unstoppable. If it is finished, the world will be under Madara's control. So far, it is only the Shinobi nations and surrounding area with the zombies on the edges traveling inward."

"I see," Naruto said. "And what about the rest of the world?"

"I have never seen it but it is so far unaware of any of this," Itachi said.

"How do you know?" Sasuke asked.

"They have not yet attempted to purge the nations," Itachi said.

"Tell me something," Naruto said. "Is there anyone in the Akatsuki that could be turned against Madara?"

"Perhaps," Itachi said. "But it would depend on what Madara intends to do with the extras in the Akatsuki."

"Who is the leader?" Naruto asked.

"Madara through Tobi," Itachi said. "And Tobi through Pein."

"Pein?" Naruto asked.

"The official leader of the organization," Itachi said. "He has the Rinnegan."

"We found a corpse in a river with the Rinnegan," Naruto said. "It turned. Then Master Jiraiya said that the corpse was only a puppet of the real one."

"True," Itachi said. "I have heard of six different shinobi with Rinnegan all claiming to be Pein. I suspect they are all puppets."

"Does he need to be killed to stop the creation of the weapon?" Naruto asked.

"Not necessarily," Itachi said. "By the time he died, Tobi would likely simply take complete control of the Akatsuki so that he could make things progress easier."

"Where can I find Pein?" Naruto asked.

"He and his body guard, another member of the Akatsuki, can be found in Amegakure," Itachi said. "However, they should be heading to the Hidden Leaf Village soon after you."

"I see," Naruto said. "In that case, I should probably get ready to meet him. First we need to get across the water to try to rescue Michiru and Hikaru."

"I know," Itachi said. "You have Shikotsumyaku right? You can form a ship with that stronger and lighter than any wooden one."

"I can?" Naruto asked. "Guess it's more useful than I thought."

"I know you paid money for those swords but you would be better off with ones made out of your bone," Itachi said.

"I know," Naruto said. "And if I ever break my swords, I'll upgrade."

"Suit yourself," Itachi said. "So, Sasuke, are you going to kill me or can you forgive me long enough to end the apocalypse?"

"I can never forgive the death of my entire clan," Sasuke said. "Luckily for you, it's not you I should be mad at. I forgive you."

"Good," Itachi said then suddenly bent over and began to cough up blood. "It's too early. I was supposed to have another month or more."

_"Is there anything we can do?"_ Naruto asked.

_"No,"_ Kurama said. _"He is dying of an incurable disease. Speaking of, you never remembered to drink the panacea did you?"_

Naruto suddenly slammed the heel of his hand into his forehead. Kurama was right. In all the excitement of having the ability to control his bones, Naruto had completely forgotten to drink the panacea. Then an even more disturbing realization occurred to him.

_"Does Hinata have the disease?"_ Naruto asked panicked.

_"No,"_ Kurama said. _"Luckily for you, the disease can only be transmitted through the blood. You're damn lucky it's not an STD too or one of you would die."_

Naruto sighed quietly then became aware that the others were all staring at him waiting for an explanation of why he had done a facepalm.

"I never drank the panacea," Naruto whispered to Hinata who instantly covered her mouth wide-eyed. "Fortunately you can't be infected unless you touch my blood."

"Is it still at the hospital?" Hinata whispered back and Naruto nodded.

Hinata turned and ran back toward the Leaf Village but stopped when hundreds of zombies charged out of the trees. Naruto instantly drew his swords but he couldn't reach her because none other than Sasori appeared out of the ground in his true form with his tail already as a sword.

"You!?" Naruto said doing a back flip over the blade and landing beside Sasuke and Itachi.

"I'm the only unkillable zombie," Sasori said. "Think about it, zombies die from being beheaded but my fatal spot was never my head."

"And I was always immortal," Hidan said stepping out of the trees. "Took a while for Kakuzu to put me back together too."

"Kakuzu's back again too?" Naruto asked.

"You tell me," Kakuzu said appearing behind Naruto.

Naruto spun swinging his sword but Kakuzu caught it in his hand after hardening it.

"I'm going to tear you apart," Naruto said.

He stabbed his swords into the ground then sent ten clones to help Hinata who was trying to hold her own against hundreds of civilian zombies. Then he pulled his swords back out and charged at Kakuzu swinging in a blur while charging his sword with his chakra.

"You want Sasori or Hidan?" Itachi asked holding back the urge to cough up blood again.

"I'll handle Hidan," Sasuke said. "Don't get poisoned."

"Don't get cut," Itachi said. "If you do don't let him get in his symbol."

Hidan had already drawn the symbol on the ground and had his scythe in one hand and his retractable spear in the other. Sasori had his sword in his right hand and was balanced on the chord from his stomach with a metal tube extended from his left palm with a white triangle sticking out of it about an inch.

"Be careful of his projectiles," Naruto said. "They explode."

Itachi nodded and then sprinted at Sasori drawing a ninjato from his robe. Sasuke drew his chokuto and charged at Hidan and Naruto continued swinging at Kakuzu who was easily avoiding Naruto's swords and blocking them despite the chakra running through them.

"I bet I can finish Hidan before you finish Sasori," Sasuke said.

"Not a chance," Itachi said grinning.

"Secret Red Move, Performance of a Hundred Puppets," Sasori said pulling a scroll out of his back and opening the compartment in the right side of his chest.

Hundreds of chakra strings shot into the scroll then a hundred puppets all wearing red cloaks shot out of the scroll into the air then drew weapons.

"Maybe there is a chance that you'll finish Hidan first," Itachi said.

"No Mangekyo Sharingan," Sasuke said.

"Deal," Itachi said.

* * *

Naruto leapt over Kakuzu and swung at the top of his head but he caught it then twisted and the blade snapped. Then Kakuzu swung the blade down and into Naruto's stomach. It hit a rib and stopped before it could hit anything vital. Kakuzu let go and punched Naruto's other sword blade smashing that one too and Naruto threw the hilts at him before pulling the blade out. He drove it into the ground and Kurama healed Naruto's wound. Then Naruto pulled out his chakra blades and grinned.

"Those pig stickers won't hurt me you idiot," Kakuzu said.

"Kakuzu those are the same as the blades that Leaf Village shinobi took my head off with," Hidan said. "Be careful."

Kakuzu rolled his eyes just as Naruto dashed forward streaming his Chakra through the blade. He swung at Kakuzu's neck and Kakuzu hardened his arm and held it in the way but the chakra blade cut through it like it was made out of paper. Kakuzu leapt back screaming in a mixture of pain and surprise then the masks shot off of his back and formed into one huge mass of chords and masks. Kakuzu picked up his hand and chords sewed it back on then he flexed it to make sure it still worked. After a moment, he grinned and began forming hand seals. All of the masks then opened their mouths and Naruto gulped and threw a kunai into one of the masks at random destroying the Water Style mask.

"Lightning Style, False Darkness, Fire Style, Searing Migraine, and Wind Style, Pressure Damage!" Kakuzu said firing all three jutsus from the masks.

The Mass of chords expanded before any fired then it spit a fire ball out of the Fire Style mask at the same time as the other attacks launched. The Searing Migraine and Pressure Damage mixed and increased in power until Naruto was about ready to pass out from the heat despite it being over a hundred feet away still. The Lightning Style jutsu shot out of its mask in the form of sixteen bolts of lightning all shooting at Naruto and the surrounding area. Naruto pulled out sixteen Shuriken and threw them at Kakuzu and the Lightning Style jutsu instantly chased them back toward Kakuzu. The powered up Searing Migraine, however, continued to ward Naruto and the ocean behind him. Naruto leapt into the air and summoned Gamatatsu and landed on his back instantly.

"Hurry!" Naruto said as Gamatatsu understood what Naruto needed and prepared his jutsu. "Wind Style, Toad Water Pistol!"

The jutsu hit the Searing Migraine and canceled out a section of it forming a safe area to land. Naruto and Gamatatsu landed safely and instantly prepared another blast.

"Wind Style, Toad Water Pistol!" Naruto said firing the second and blowing all of the remaining masks as well as the mass of chords into tiny pieces and nearly getting Kakuzu along with it.

"Fine," Kakuzu said as the chords connected with him and he formed the same ranged for he had when he had died originally. "Bring it!"

Naruto smirked and summoned Gamakichi.

"You wanna try Gamakichi?" Naruto asked.

"Sure Naruto," Gamakichi said.

Naruto placed his hand on the back of both toads heads and smirked.

"Wind Style, Toad Water Pistol and Wind Style, Toad Fire Storm!" Naruto said grinning.

Gamatatsu shot his water blast and Gamakichi launched a column of flame twice the size of Gamatatsu's blast. Gamatatsu's blast hit and Kakuzu flew backward and smashed into a tree seconds before Gamakichi's jutsu hit. It exploded on contact and The only thing left of Kakuzu was a tiny piece of his robe that was too small to tell where it had come from. Naruto smiled and let Gamatatsu and Gamakichi return to Mount Myoboku then turned toward Sasuke and Itachi who were both also finished their fights.

* * *

While Naruto and Itachi fought, Sasuke was avoiding Hidan's spear while blocking his scythe. He had lured Hidan a long distance away from his symbol and toward his trap. The trap had originally been set for Itachi but he figured it would work just as well on Hidan. The trap was simple, a pit trap with wooden spikes on bottom and a thousand explosive tags below that ready to blow Hidan into a million pieces once Hidan was in the pit as well as burying the remains. Suddenly, Hidan switched his tactics and dropped to the ground spinning and swept Sasuke's feet out from under him and then stood and swung the scythe down at him, Sasuke copied Hidan's move and spun tripping Hidan causing his scythe to impale its owner's chest instead of Sasuke's. Then Sasuke stood and Hidan removed the scythe and smirked.

"Not bad kid," Hidan said.

"Thanks," Sasuke said. "Want to see a real move?"

"Sure," Hidan said spreading his arms. "Hit me with your best shot."

Sasuke grinned and began making hand seals. Then his grin increased.

"Fire Style, Dragon Flame Jutsu!" Sasuke said and shot three blasts at Hidan.

They were made out of fire and shaped like dragon heads and Hidan sighed in content as the heat grew. Then, just before connecting, the blasts curved upward into the air and as they heated the air, storm clouds began to gather.

"Huh?" Hidan asked. "You made a storm? I thought it was an attack."

Sasuke grinned and leapt up onto the nearest building he formed a Chidori and held it over his head. Lightning began flashing around the thunder head as a huge lightning dragon formed.

"This jutsu was originally meant for my brother," Sasuke said. "So you had better watch closely Itachi."

The dragon flew back into the thunder cloud and then Sasuke swung his arm down. The dragon turned into a bolt of lightning and flashed out of the sky and hit Hidan full in the face. Then it exploded in an enormous blue ball of energy and fire before fading. There was still a body, however, and Hidan began to stand instantly groaning.

"What!?" Sasuke said dropping to the ground. "Impossible!"

Just then his curse seal throbbed painfully and an enormous eight headed white snake began to grow out of his shoulder. It grew until it was easily a hundred feet tall. Sasuke collapsed once it was out and Hidan grinned. Itachi instantly activated his Mangekyo Sharingan and then a red and orange ghostly form appeared around him with a shield in its left hand and a sword formed in its right.

"So he's broken free," Itachi said. "Fine, I'll seal him away now."

The snake heads began lunging at Itachi and he easily removed several and smashed the others away with his shield. After mere seconds, only one head was left and it opened its mouth as wide as it could.

"What is that thing?" Sasuke asked standing.

As if in answer, Orochimaru became visible in the snake's mouth and puked up his snake sword.

"Finally," Orochimaru said. "Now I'll take over that brat and-"

He was interrupted by Itachi's silhouette's sword impaling him through the chest and most of the rest of his body below that.

"Was that supposed to..." Orochimaru began but stopped when the sword began absorbing him. "It can't be! Is this the Totsuka Blade? Impossible!"

The blade finished sealing Orochimaru and his snake away and then Itachi slashed through Sasori's puppets sealing a large portion of them. Sasuke turned back to Hidan just in time to use his chokuto to block his spear. Then he kicked Hidan who stumbled back then grinned. Sasuke was breathing hard and barely had any chakra left.

"I win," Hidan said.

Just then he took a step forward and the ground below his foot collapsed as he fell into Sasuke's trap.

"Looks like you were wrong," Sasuke said just before the tags exploded and the rubble from the sides of the pit caved in and buried Hidan.

* * *

As Sasuke and Naruto fought their battles, Itachi avoided puppets left and right while slashing them with his ninjato and kicked others away. He picked up a fallen ninjato from a puppet and continued fighting until Orochimaru's snake began to free itself from Sasuke. Itachi instantly activated his susanoo and sealed Orochimaru away then turned back to the puppets and began sealing them away by slashing them.

After several minutes, there were very few left so he was having trouble hitting them so he finally just smashed them away with his shield then swung at Sasori. Sasori managed to get out of the way and shot several metal triangles at Itachi. They hit his susanoo and fell to the ground then exploded and the susanoo's ribs cracks and a single chunk fell away along with most of the susanoo's armor which had been shattered.

Sasori suddenly shot forward between the ribs and thrust his sword forward. Itachi dodged it but it managed to leave a papercut. Then Itachi made the susanoo drive its sword inward through its ribs and Sasori managed to dodge it but it went through his chord. It began to absorb it instantly so he ejected it just in time for Itachi to drive his ninjato through his core killing him temporarily. Then the susanoo disappeared.

Naruto walked over just as Itachi collapsed and blood began to pool from a cut Sasori had managed to make with his sword. It was barely a paper cut so Itachi probably hadn't noticed it but the poison from the blade along with the amount of chakra Itachi had used were about a minute or less from killing him.

"Itachi!" Sasuke said kneeling beside his brother.

"It's okay Sasuke," Itachi said. "Now you can take my Mangekyo Sharingan and help Naruto end the apocalypse."

"But..." Sasuke began but couldn't voice whatever it was he wanted to.

Just then, his Sharingan turned black and the design in the middle was three red intersecting ellipses.

"So you finally awakened your Mangekyo Sharingan," Itachi said. "Figures that all it took was my death."

"I'm sorry," Sasuke said. "I should have found a way to save you."

Naruto suddenly felt one of his clones disappear and realized that Hinata and his clones were still fighting the zombies but were making progress toward the Leaf Village.

"Gotta go," Naruto said. "Sasuke bring him to the village once you say your goodbyes."

With that, Naruto ran off into the woods after Hinata and his clones. As he traveled he entered Sage Mode and sped up arriving at Hinata's location just as the rest of his clones were killed. He landed behind Hinata and she dropped to the ground as he spun while covering his arms with bone spikes and killed ten zombies. Then he shot the bones out of his arms into the zombies and killed another eighteen. Then he pulled out his chakra blades as Hinata stood and drew her sword.

"Sorry I'm late," Naruto said. "Kakuzu didn't want to die."

"You could have used Sage Mode," Hinata said.

"Didn't feel like wasting Natural Energy," Naruto said.

Just then the zombies all surged forward and Sasuke landed beside them forming a triangle. Naruto glanced up and saw Itachi's body laying on a branch above them. Then he looked back down and slashed a zombie removing his head. He increased the amount of chakra in his blades until the chakra formed a blade as long as his katana had been. He flipped the blades around to normal grip and began removing heads. Sasuke and Hinata began to do the same thing and after five minutes, they had finished off all of the zombies. Naruto put his blades away then grew two curved bone chokuto out of his shoulder and put them in his previous swords' scabbards.

"Okay," Naruto said. "Now we need to head back. Sasuke, I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Sasuke said. "We need to move."

Naruto nodded and had a clone retrieve Itachi's body then they all began moving toward the Leaf Village again.

THE END

* * *

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